While many holiday movies create whimsical, fictional towns, some draw inspiration from real-life cities that are just as enchanting as they appear on screen and lend an air of authenticity to the magical stories we love. From bustling metropolises to quaint small towns, these locations bring the spirit of the season to life. Let’s explore the United States through Christmas classics and uncover the places that make these holiday tales so unforgettable!
Manhattan, New York
While New York City is the setting of many Christmas movies, “Elf” takes the cake as one of the most popular Christmas movies that highlights New York City staples. In “Elf,” Buddy, a human raised as one of Santa’s elves, makes the long trip from the North Pole to Manhattan to find his long-lost father. During his journey, Buddy encounters iconic landmarks like the Lincoln Tunnel, which connects Weehawken, New Jersey, to Midtown Manhattan, and Gimbels, a now-defunct department store that had a flagship store in the Upper East Side.
While Gimbels no longer exists, plenty of other places around the city go all-out with Christmas decorations. Rockefeller Center’s iconic Christmas display draws thousands of visitors every year, including Buddy the Elf. Macy’s Herald Square in Midtown South is another prominent landmark, known for its elaborate Christmas window displays and Santaland section, as well as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that ushers in the Christmas season.
Grand Rapids, Michigan
The unnamed protagonist of “The Polar Express” is sleeping soundly in his home in Grand Rapids, Michigan, when the Polar Express stops outside his door. The Polar Express travels from Grand Rapids to the North Pole in one night—how long did it actually take?
The protagonist boards the Polar Express 9 minutes into the movie and stops for a total of 2 minutes to allow Billy the lonely boy to board. The train makes it to the North Pole 51 minutes into the movie, meaning that it took the Polar Express a total of 40 minutes to travel from Grand Rapids to the North Pole. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) latitude/longitude distance calculator, Grand Rapids is 3,248 miles away from the North Pole, which means that the Polar Express would have had to travel at 4,872 miles per hour.
The non-magical journey is much longer. To make it to the North Pole from Grand Rapids, Michigan, you’d have to fly from Gerald R. Ford International Airport to Helsinki, Finland. Then, you’d fly from Helsinki to Murmansk, Russia, and board a ship to the North Pole, according to Swoop Arctic. In total, it would take four days, 17 hours, and 26 minutes to get from Grand Rapids to the North Pole.
Hammond, Indiana
“A Christmas Story” is a film adaptation of five short stories from Jean Shepherd's collection “In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.” The movie takes place in the fictional town of Hohman, Indiana, based on Shepherd’s hometown of Hammond, Indiana.
Hammond is a small city along the Illinois-Indiana border and is the perfect place for water activities between Lake Michigan, Wolf Lake, and the Little Calumet River. While this makes it a great place to live in the summer, Jean Shepherd’s white-Christmas portrayal of Hammond’s fictional counterpart is spot-on. Based on 2000-2024 trends in nearby Chicago, Illinois, and South Bend, Indiana, average winter temperatures in Hammond likely hover around 28.5 degrees Fahrenheit. With these temperatures, it’s best to avoid triple-dog-daring your friend to lick a flagpole in December.
Chicago, Illinois
In “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” Clark Griswold and his family live in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, quiet enough for them to make a splash. 14 Christmas tree farms in the Chicago area make it easy for families like the Griswolds to pull a tree out of the ground by the roots, and Chicago O’Hare International Airport is perfect for when you host your entire extended family over the holidays.
If, like Clark, you like to deck the halls with thousands of Christmas lights, Chicago has a strong energy grid. According to the Department of Energy’s Electric Disturbance Events annual summaries, Chicago hasn’t experienced a non-weather-related outage that affected customers since 2005. This means you’re free to staple 25,000 strands of imported Italian twinkle lights to your house with minimal risk of causing a power outage in your neighborhood!
Winnetka, Illinois
Eight-year-old Kevin McCallister and his four siblings live in Winnetka, Illinois, in “Home Alone” when his family accidentally leaves him behind on the way to a Christmas vacation in Paris. Kevin wakes up to an empty house and newfound freedom until he discovers two burglars have marked the McCallister house as their next target. Feeling like he has no one to turn to, Kevin is left to protect the home all by himself.
If you end up in a situation like Kevin’s, Winnetka residents on Niche.com report a welcoming community and friendly neighbors who are always willing to lend a helping hand. Niche.com also places Winnetka in the top 5% of best places to live in America due to its combination of great schools, beautiful green spaces, and quiet atmosphere.
Riverside, Illinois
In “Christmas with the Kranks,” Luther and Nora Krank are new empty nesters who decide to go on a Caribbean cruise for the holidays instead of celebrating Christmas at home in the small town of Riverside. This quiet suburb sits just outside of Chicago, which, according to the National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI), averages 28.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter. Can you blame the Kranks for wanting a beachy getaway?
Luckily, the Riverside community warms up during the cold winter months. Like in the movie, Riverside is very community-oriented, with many community events around the holidays.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
While the setting of the “Peanuts” comics is highly disputed, Charlie Brown and his friends likely live in Minneapolis, “Peanuts” creator Charles Schulz’s hometown. Several comic strips allude to the setting, including a 1957 strip in which Lucy Van Pelt shows off a trophy awarded to her that says, “Outstanding Fussbudget of Hennepin County.” Hennepin County is Minnesota’s most populous county, with Minneapolis at its center.
If the “Peanuts” crew lives in Minneapolis, Lucy’s claim in “A Charlie Brown Christmas” that December is “too early” to eat snowflakes is false. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources data from 2000 to 2023, the Minneapolis-St. Paul area receives an average of four more inches of snow in December than in January. As Linus points out, snowflakes in December would be riper than snowflakes in January.
Brentwood, California
In “The Holiday,” Amanda and Iris switch homes for the holidays. Iris rents her home in Surrey, England, to Amanda, and Amanda rents her home in Brentwood, California, to Iris. While Amanda enjoys Iris’s quaint cottage in the English countryside, Iris explores the peace and quiet of Brentwood.
Brentwood is an agriculture center, and agritourism is a major facet of the area’s economy. The Contra Costa County is home to over 60 farms that offer pre-picked produce or U-Pick experiences, offering both fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a fun activity. With six vineyards in Brentwood and six more in the broader Contra Costa County, residents and visitors like Amanda and Iris have access award-winning wine straight from the barrel.
San Francisco, California
In “Four Christmases,” Kate and Brad are enjoying life in San Francisco, California, when their Christmas trip to Fiji is postponed due to severe fog. To their dismay, they must instead attend each of their divorced parents’ Christmas parties in one day, leading them to drive all over the city.
With several major highways connecting San Francisco to Marin County to the north and Oakland to the east, traveling throughout the city is efficient. If you have four Christmas parties to attend in a single day, San Francisco's extensive highway system has you covered.
Los Angeles, California
While many people don’t believe that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie, nothing makes a person more holly jolly than fights on a tall building! The iconic fight between John McClane and Hans Gruber takes place in the fictional Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles, California.
The real-life Nakatomi Plaza is 2121 Avenue of the Stars, formerly known as Fox Plaza, and is located in Century City. At 493 feet high, this skyscraper is only the 35th tallest building in Los Angeles—John McClane wasn’t even fighting in one of the top ten highest buildings in Los Angeles!
The tallest building in Los Angeles is the Wilshire Grand Center. At 1,100 feet tall, this skyscraper is about as tall as the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
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